John Prine recently scored his first number one song on the Billboard charts with “I Remember Everything.” Prine wrote the song with Pat McLaughlin. And he recorded it in his living room, his final song before he died of complications from Covid-19 on April 7, 2020.
Prine fans will not be surprised that he is still capable of bringing a smile and a tear to our eyes even after he passed away.
The song is about missing someone (“How I miss you in the morning light /
Like roses miss the dew”). But it also functions as someone looking back on life.
I’ve been down this road before,
Alone as I can be;
Careful not to let my past,
Go sneaking up on me;
Got no future in my happiness,
Though regrets are very few;
Sometimes a little tenderness,
Was the best that I could do.
Check out the video below of John Prine singing “I Remember Everything” in his living room.
Leave your two cents in the comments.
I was a Navy Reserve aircrewman (and a wannabe singer songwriter) out of Pensacola – my plane had to remain overnight at NAS Memphis in the winter of 69-1970. After securing the aircraft I went to the USO to see what was available. There were some free tickets to some of the theaters in Memphis – I grabbed one and got on the bus. As the bus dropped me off and was pulling away I realized there was no movie – it was a solo performance by a guy. A guy whom I later learned was Johhn Prine. I had written a few songs, played passable guitar and had performed in Greenwich Village in the mid 60s, I was even considering quitting my “day job” and going on the road with “my act”… This Prine guy was amazing; his songs – and his voice – were like nothing i had ever heard before. I would have joined his fan club, but I forgot his name five minutes after it was over. About a year later, out in San Francisco while working for ABC In Concert and doing gigs in the Bay Area, I came across an album in a record store – face vaguely familiar, but the name pinged my memory. Now I could be a real fan. It’s been nearly fifty years since I wore the grooves out learning Sam Stone, Donald and Lydia, Hello In There, Angel From Montgomery and Paradise. Even though I’ve played them all thousands of times in the past half century, along with a hundred others, I still hang on to every word because their stories never get old. I encountered JP once, in a steakhouse Norfolk VA having dinner with Gove Scrivenor Told him about the first time I saw him, and that I had played his songs so often that I couldn’t ever pay off the royalties – I offered to offered pick up their ($200) dinner tab as a gesture of gratitude – he said something like “Ominus Dominus, you are forgiven.” I was lying on the couch at 2am with my old Martin, playing Bruised Orange, when my daughter – a big JP fan since she was a kid – came downstairs to tell me she was sad to report having seen notice of his passing on the news channel. As I live and breathe,the very first thought that entered my mind was “He was in heaven before he died.” When I first heard “I Remember Everything” I thought it was the perfect opus. It will be the last JP song that I will ever commit to my repetoire.
What a wonderful story Mark. It must have been something special to see Prine so early in his career. Your story reminds me of the review that Roger Ebert wrote upon catching Prine around the same time as you saw him. And I too find a special connection with Prine’s songs by playing them on my guitar. Thanks for your comment and take care.